Cascading Memory
by YellowTangerines
Summary: A story of the children seeking a better ending. Homestuck crossover with Kagerou Project, no Sburb, no trolls. /Story 8 of Mekakustuck / Current act: ACT 2
1. Capture

**Cascading Memory**

Flash!

The summer world stretched behind in passing milliseconds, signs and buildings gone in the blink of an eye. Footsteps and heartbeats pounded in Jade's ears, with not a second of space left for the spoken word. Not that anyone had anything to say, anyways, beyond empty bits of "excuse me" and "sorry" to the unknowing passerby – but even then, the Dan and Betas were silent today. Who cared about talking when they had a mission to do? This wasn't a normal mission, after all.

This was the Kagerou Daze Battle Strategy. Its objective was to ensure the future existed.

But where did it all begin? The rush of adrenaline, though spilling energy into Jade's steps everywhere she went, did nothing to her stream thoughts. So she remembered where it began, in between dodges of the passerby and winding sidewalk turns. She remembered when Dave rested his ability.

It started with Shintaro's Pesterchum memo that morning, red text recounting stories of timelines dead and gone. There were as many ended Routes as there were threads in a sweater, none of the happy ones timelines the Betas had seen. Jade could imagine the bloodsoaked, lifeless ends in her mind's eye. That could happen soon, seeing as the summer wasn't any longer than a week now. So what would they do about it? They'd do this. They'd do this mission, no point sitting around mourning a changeable fact of the world. The gardener's form blurred, ten other forms blurred, they zoomed past again.

It boiled down to Jade's personal objective for this multi-part mission, and those of her friends. Keeping the chatter and arguments down was hers, as all teams were bound to disagree somewhere. Rose would be drawing out whoever the Snake of Clearing Eyes was possessing from under the snake's control, a side-effect found weeks ago on a concrete rooftop. Dave was to keep movement quick and easy, armed with a carbon steel training sword if necessary. And John, with the largest job of all in Jade's bewildered opinion – he'd be the one to open doors and bust people out when needed.

All that in a single day, perhaps more. All that in the direction of a lab dug beneath a high school building, and all to the downfall of the snake possessing someone named Kenjirou Tateyama. She could see that high school now, in between the trees and street lamps. So it took one last bout of flashstepping –

Wait, no, not into that –

– mob of white shirts and white jackets. They filled up the streets, blocked the sight of buildings, and all Jade saw for miles was pale skin and clothes. She couldn't spot a single opening where Dave could move them out of this ever closing crowd. Were all these people waiting here, waiting for a crew of kids in hoodies? Did Momo's power slip out of her control, and everyone just a fan or fan-to-be? Jade didn't know. She didn't care. Not while there were a thousand cold hands reaching towards the cluster that had become her and her friends, nor while Dave's training sword was ripped from his hands onto the ground. Not as Jade remembered that Konoha wasn't allowed to join them, not as _everything was already going wrong_.

But what she did care about was the claustrophobia growing in on her, before there was no more sky or pavement or tree. Just white. Just skin, just hands and a million cries of "let me go", the vanishing spots of fresh air to breathe. This couldn't kill anyone. This couldn't even knock a person out. Even so, the grand question for paradox space remained:

Was this how it had to be?


	2. Escape

Yeah, if they could.

The white mob was rough when it split friends apart from friends, spitting threats and rubbing bruises everywhere into Jade's arms and legs. And there wasn't anything she could have done about it – whether or not she asked a thousand questions or screamed her own insults. What of her eye ability, her power to rip all the guards' voices from their pale, thin throats? Not a chance. Their focus was too strong to be hurt by that. And even if somehow a single hand let go of Jade's arm, another would take its place and squeeze even harder. The sentries had her in their grip. The sentries had her friends in their grip. It was her and Dave and the Mekakushi Trio in one of their stupid holding cells, and nothing could be done about it.

If only Jade could have had her rifle with her. Or would they just take it away like they did Dave's sword? They would have, wouldn't they? What a stupid idea!

Not that there could be any better ideas for furthering the mission or at least escaping, anyways. The sentries outside could hear everything the gardener could try to say. They could hear everything anyone tried to say, and see it all with their own eyes. Stop it with their handguns, or maybe, Jade thought, take them to the Snake of Clearing Eyes for additional mayhem. The mere thought of that made her heart sink even further. What if Rose went grimdark again? Everyone had gone so quiet. Jade herself didn't want to know what would happen.

But that somehow didn't stop Dave from talking, if in whispers. "You sure we can't do anything here, Danchou? Like, with all the multi-timeline shit that happened, there hasn't been one thing that's worked before?"

"We've come up with something according to Shintaro, but that's not going to work here. Momo's in a different cell from us," said Kido.

Fine. They could just come up with something else. "Sure, but what about you, Kano?" Jade asked, turning to the deceiver. "Can't you deceive the guards and trick them into getting us out of here?"

"Not a chance," Kano sighed. "You've seen the way they've been stepping on each other's feet every now and then, right Jade? My power doesn't work under pain, even slight pain. They'd find me before I could do anything useful." He leaned back against the wall.

"Could we get Seto here to mind read? I mean, it wouldn't open the locks on this thing, but knowing shit about this place might help us get an escape plan together," said Dave.

Seto stopped rubbing his bruises for a split second, looking up from the other side of the prison cell. His voice was hushed. "Well, I don't like using that power at all, but an emergency's an emergency. What do you say, Danchou-san? Should I use my eye ability?"

"Think so," Kido muttered. "Be sneaky, though, Seto – we don't want you getting caught. Here, behind this wall. And thanks for doing this, even though you don't like it."

The telepath nodded and snuck forward on shaking knees, hands against the wall. He peered through a sliver of clear glass, eyes red and lidded in concentration. The urge to lean in and ask what Seto saw prodded Jade with every fiber of her being – but wouldn't that give away their cover? She blinked, planting her feet where she was.

It wasn't possible to see everything from Jade's end of the prison cell, near the back and middle of the little room. But it was possible to see the telepath's eyes stretching wide as they could go, and the guards that nodded and split down the hall in groups. Seto's irises returned to their usual hazel.

"Well?" Dave asked.

"There's been an intruder on the lab premises," Seto said. "They're pretty strong, so lots of personnel are being sent to restrain them. Just in case they try to free us, whoever they are, we're going to be sent somewhere. Where that is, I don't know. After that…" He glanced behind his shoulder. The cell door opened, but not in a way that would set them free. No openings to run, either.

"Well, maybe that intruder will get us out, right?" Seto finished.


	3. Breach

But they could free themselves. Where did it all begin?

The confrontation on the bridge was where. It was when Jade had enough. Enough of the harsh grip on her wrists, enough of the orders and unending threats. Enough of Rose and the rest of the Dan struggling to escape at the other end of the bridge, the guards' pistols pointed at them and threats spilling out of their mouths. It was also when Jade saw an opportunity – and so did everyone else in a white-armed grasp.

The sentinels holding her, Dave and the Mekakushi Trio down were experts. They knew every potential turn and escape had been blocked, with sharp voices and cutting threats. The ones on the other side of the bridge weren't anywhere close to that, seeing how loose their grips were and how many stutters they made. The conversation had the sentinels' focus to a point, so what if the prisoners decided to have a little exchange of info themselves? Jade locked eyes with Rose.

 _Rose, do you think those guards holding you are good at what they're doing?_ the gardener mouthed.

 _Honestly? No,_ Rose mouthed back. _Jade, do you want to try something?_

 _Yes! I'm tired of being held back by these guys. We've got a mission! I don't really have a plan, though._

 _Here's one for you. Do you see the guard on my end, saying everything? Use your eye ability as much as you can,_ Rose offered.

A nod, a crane of Jade's neck, and a stare. Someone's voice pounded against his throat. Four cries of alarm, and those voices were trapped too. Just to be safe.

The fingers around everyone's arms loosened, not to get anyone back soon. Kido was always one to punch with an iron fist, Dave always had his martial training. And who couldn't elbow somebody? Jade and her group were free, and with a swipe of a handgun, they'd stay free.

Jade aimed and fired. She shot five times, five consecutive bangs, enough to graze smoking holes through snowy white sleeves and boots. Five quaking moans, from five unconscious guards who were afraid enough to knock themselves out, no killing required. After all, the sight of teenagers blinking out of thin air and appearing again, of being your colleague one moment and one of _them_ the next – that could make anyone faint.

The bridge smelled crisp, like smoke. Gunshots left ringing echoes in the ears conscious to hear them.

And that was the end of that.

So the Betas and the Mekakushi Dan ran down the next metal corridor. Their mission would go on.

And yet, something was tugging at Jade's train of thought. The adrenaline, the sweat on the handgun she still held stretched her face in a dizzy grin, but it didn't affect the thought that this wasn't right. This wasn't right. It was too easy, for all those guards to suddenly lose years of their training and drop at a couple teenagers' feet. Something in there must have been staged, cried a faint nudge in Jade's mind. And anyways, wasn't somebody missing?

Not just somebody. Multiple people were missing.

John hadn't been seen since they were locked up in those holding cells. Ene hadn't shown up in anything, not a phone, not a sentinel's earpiece. And Konoha – who else could have been the 'white-haired intruder', Jade had to wonder – where in the lab was he? Suppose everyone was asking the same thing, as turns and steel corners passed them by.

"Hey, guys?" Jade piped up. "I'm not trying to bring everyone down, but the fight back at the bridge…"

"Too easy?" Kano finished. "We're all feeling that way about it, Jade. Still, we've got to take what we've got, right? Anyways, we're almost to the room where the Snake of Clearing Eyes should be. Right, Danchou?"

"Yup," Kido answered. " We're a couple levels above it according to what Shintaro told us, but there's bound to be elevators somewhere. Speaking of elevators, Hibiya, do you see anything in front of us?"

The clairvoyant pushed ahead in front of his older friends, eyes switching crimson. "Sorta. I'm running so I can't focus very well on what's far ahead, but there are these sliding doors that have to be elevators. We can probably get to them if…forget that. We can't get to them."

"Why not?" asked Dave.

"Well, there's a door at the end of this hallway, and it was open just now! But now it's closed," said Hibiya. "Thought I saw someone closing it, but guess not. However, I guess that if we wanted our phones back…or Dave, if you want your sword…we could turn that way, and get them. The door's open and there aren't too many turns. Just saying."

Little nods and murmurs – anything that meant approval – sprang up from Jade and around her. So much for having to mediate between people. Feet scuffled, everyone turned the other direction, and sprinted into another identical hallway.

* * *

And for the most part, that hallway was identical. Until they were far enough down it, that was.

Jade saw nothing at first. For the first minutes towards the room where Hibiya insisted their things were, the walls were the same sterile metal everyone had gotten used to, and after that just pinpricks and dots. Jade passed them off as smudges on her glasses, or little tricks of the eye. Seemed like everyone else did, too. But when they were too big to be pinpricks? When from each end from the wall to another, there were grooves and dents that cracked at the edges? Jade couldn't run further. Nobody could run further.

Suppose it wasn't that bad of a thing, though. The security cameras here and the door were more crumpled chunks of metal than anything now, and with a poke of said door it crashed to the ground. Jade took a couple steps in. Everyone's phones were there, a kaleidoscope of cases, all strewn across stark white tables. Same went for Dave's sword, dark in its sheath and even darker beneath the tables' shadows. All these things worked perfectly. Not a single thing was different, let alone wrong.

Except, maybe, the Pesterchum messages sent to all those phones, typed in a warm red and two shades of blue. And the fact that everyone had the device that was theirs, except for Dave.


	4. Entry

But despite all the unexpected changes, there was still something important to do. Just because she and her friends got mobbed, Jade remembered, didn't mean their old plan for this vanished overnight.

The TV Room, or as everyone had chosen to call it, was their objective again. It was at the end of staircases followed by more staircases, but if Hibiya was right this was the quickest route and Clearing Eyes was down there. They'd meet up soon. Soon enough to free themselves from whatever was terrorising their lives, deaths, day after day. Maybe to get a true glance at why there were strings attached to their timelines.

But there was always a catch to that. Only three people knew it so far, but they'd get the others to know if it meant a little extra chaos.

 _Bloop_. A notification, from someone whose memories were the basis of each and every part of the mission.

* * *

CR: I'm not sure if you'll get this or not, but if you heard about an intruder where you are,

CR: He's not headed out the lab.

CR: If anything, he should be going further in.

* * *

He? The intruder was a he? Regardless of that, if he was being led into the lab, the guards must have been on his side. But what for? Jade had to wonder that.

 _Bloop_. A message, from someone whose biggest asset was being able to be anywhere – as long as he'd seen the place before.

* * *

GT: wow, you guys are taking a pretty long route there!

GT: it's sort of my fault though. sorry.

GT: i didn't mean to block you guys.

GT: not specifically, anyways.

* * *

Then who?

 _Bloop_. Cerulean text scrolling across the screen, from someone who lived in cyberspace.

* * *

CD: I don't know if Master told you this yet, but heres an order.

CD: If you guys see Konoha, call out to him or something!

CD: He left the base in a big hurry, so keep him from wrecking things and make it obvious that you're okay!

CD: I mean, he's not the one who can see through security cameras here!

* * *

 _Keep him from wrecking things_ , Ene wrote. Too late for that.

So ended the signal, passed down from person to person and back again between puffs of breath and warnings about stairs. The more anyone spoke, the easier it would be to fall down the steps. There was silence still. And even as it took something close to forever, getting down to the TV Room, progress was being made.

Jade was starting to see glass pillars from behind balconies and railing. They were filled with neon liquids, lit up with floodlights from somewhere in them. She saw that bubbles danced in the pillars time to time, and one looked as though it had a sleeping person inside. But those must have been tricks of the light. It was dark down here, anyways. Or were they? It wasn't important.

There were more pillars now. Less light, save for the coloured stuff coming from the neon-floodlight liquid. As they rose up around Jade and her friends, something anxious swelled in the gardener's heart. No matter how many weird turns they took or how many path switches were made, they were en route to the Snake of Clearing Eyes. Hibiya confirmed that time and time again.

So they were really going to meet the one who had their very lives in their grip. It wasn't going to help matters, but…

Oh, who was she kidding. The something anxious in Jade's chest, that pumped adrenaline through her veins and rushed her breaths? She was scared. No ghost story or horror movie had ever made her feel this way, not a single memory made this feeling familiar to Jade. This was what it meant to be afraid, when red text of gruesome summer ends and Rose's burnout all those years back – 'grimdark' was too silly to describe it now – when those things kept flashing in her mind. This wasn't the life Jade envisioned for herself. It was far from it. So very, very far.

They were on a straight platform now, some metal-woven catwalk splitting the giant test tubes from one another. Hibiya had even stopped using his eye ability to see the way. He said that they were close enough to just run straight ahead, and the pounding fear in Jade was only pounding harder. Still, if she would just make it through this one mission, everything would be over. Be fine.

"We're almost there, you guys. We're going to see that snake soon. Be ready, okay?" said Kido from up front. Most responded to that with a solid "yes" – but there was one whimper in the middle of the group. It broke into a cry. Marry's cry.

The albino fell to her knees, her face buried in her hands. "I can't do this," she sniffled. "I can't do this! What if I lose all of you? My wonderful friends…"

Seto was the first to try to comfort her. "Hey, hey," he said. "Everything'll be fine. I'm here, right?"

"Maybe now! But what if, in the future…I've had nightmares about this before, and what Shintaro said…I don't want any of you to die! I'm so sorry, everyone…for holding you up, and, and…"

"Don't cry, Marry! You're part of the Mekakushi Dan. Don't we have a tendency to get out of scrapes unharmed? We'll be fine," said Kano.

"We have an entire plan behind us, Marry. It's quite safe, because we've got John, Ene and Shintaro off where they are, doing their jobs. Trust me," said Rose.

"Yeah, but Marry's got a point," Hibiya put in. "What _if_ we all die? I hate to be the pessimist, but this isn't something we can just waltz out of."

"Don't say that!" Momo snapped.

"Whatever! Let's just keep going. No use staying here."

So the group went on, if more slowly than before. Marry was right, after all. So was Hibiya. What if their big plan, worked on for sleepless nights and past 3 in the morning, _was_ going to fail them all? There wasn't any forgetting that possibility. No wonder Marry started crying. No wonder, Jade thought. She could still hear little whimpers from the albino every now and then.

At last, they saw a door. Massive, and according to their clairvoyant blocking posts upon posts with back-to-back screens. The TV Room. Finally. But how would they confront Clearing Eyes, when everyone was so scared? It wasn't even just Marry who looked like she was going to cry now. Seto was biting his lip, Kido avoiding all eye contact.

And no one could walk anymore. They were at the door anyways, but still, no one could walk. There were more whimpers, coming from not just one person in their little crowd but many. Some began to tremble, even when they said they weren't scared. What a lie that was. Everyone saw the memo. Everyone knew they died 9 times out of 10, and likely would again.

So Jade picked up speed a little, striding to the front of their group. "This might be sudden," she said, "but I thought I'd say something to help us feel better. You're probably all used to hearing pep talks from Kido – er, Danchou, but…we've come this far, right?"

 _Yeah, and?_

"Well…This may be one of our most dangerous missions yet, but it's not like we're jumping in blind. We thought this through, didn't we?"

The almost-weeping was getting louder now. Kido stepped up to Jade's side. "I think what Jade's trying to say is that…"

But the commander stopped there. She didn't need to go any further, nor could she. Jade's eyes shone traffic light crimson.

"…There is still something worth fighting for," the gardener finished.

And the TV Room clicked open.

 **End**

* * *

 _AN: Here comes ACT 2! At long last!  
This is one of the last stories in all of Mekakustuck. The finale is in sight - though you won't get a hint of what it is until it comes out. A little scary, isn't it?  
Anyways, I hope you guys have been noticing the way the recently released fics (_Colder than Science, Answers to Keep, Moonsets and Sunsets, _this one) have been named._ _They're references to things. Things like the names of some Kagepro songs or Homestuck music pieces.  
_ _Well, anyways, thanks for reading_ Cascading Memory _and Mekakustuck as a whole! Comments and criticism will be much appreciated. ~YellowTangerines_


End file.
